The temperature was a staggering 41C on the Pharmacy thermometer today, but we later heard reports of it being 45C that day. The heatwave had arrived and I thought back fondly to the days when I though 35C was too hot, and yet the wind cooled everything down – yay go wind!
We had our first full day at the beach today. Once I’d assumed the position, I thought ‘this is the life’ and looked forward to something more than crackers for lunch. According to J. G. Ballard this leisurely lifestyle is the future of Western civilisation, or at least something that people aspire to. I’ll talk more about his book Cocaine Nights in a later post, but it was good to spot the quote that has been used by Manic Street Preachers in the past.
I had chicken gyros pitta today which was a bit better than the pork version I had previously. Both were at a pretty what-you-see-is-what-you-get cheapo cafe bar on the beach end of the main strip. I think it was called Phivos and Athera but don’t quote me on that. It was as close to the type of place you get a sloppy done kebab from back in the UK after too many beers but with probably better hygiene.
As well as the breeze that just got better and better throughout the day we used the sea to cool off. Tigaki beach is without a lie the best beach I have ever had the pleasure of lying on – it is deep (in terms of how much sand there is between road and sea and so how much space there is between sunbeds, it is long (stretching for a couple of miles between Marmari and Tigaki – a great walk on a cooler day than today) and the sea is shallow for around the same distance as the beach is deep). You can wade out a long distance before the waves even start to tickle your chest. It’s just great. Also there’s a funny donut man and not too many massage touts.
We ate in the evening at Nisiotiko taverna and when I had finished I realised that I had hit my limit on mixed grills and vowed ‘no more’ for the rest of the holiday. I wouldn’t go so far as to just eat salads for the rest of the holiday – there’s no fun in that – but I was conscious of the calories I was putting away and the tightness of some of my beach shorts that I was sure fitted okay when i packed them in my luggage.
We went to Roosters for a couple of drinks – I just had a very nice tasting zero alcohol Amstel and water while Siggy had a Bailey’s coffee. The waitress recognised us from our previous short visit and said that that day had been particularly tiresome because of the drunkards at the bar. She seemed a bit taken aback by my order, but we were trying to pace ourselves before we went (on Siggy’s insistence) to Mango Bar to see Elvis. No really he was there live.
We sat and drank two-for-one cocktails while he arrived on the scene late to a tumultuous welcome from the over-eager crowd. He seemed to bear a striking resemblance to the guy we had been talking to about Sylvester Stallone the other day – it came across a bit like Peter Griffin mixed with Les Dawson – in a typical 1970s white jump suit. He was totally in character and despite his fault microphone (or perhaps because of it) was thoroughly entertaining. Not the best of singers or swingers, but I applaud his efforts.
When we got back to our apartment we found a note under the door from Christos on reception so we went and spoke to him. He’d got a call from the travel people to tell us that the bus would be picking us up at a later time and that it would be a minibus again instead of a coach. Which was nice.
couchmagpie 